Pressure regulating and shaft positioning mechanism for turbine driven pumps



Nov. 4, 1952 R. GODDARD 2,615,373

PRESSURE REGUL NG AND SHAFT POSITIONING MECHANISM FOR TURBINE DRIVEN PUMPS Original Filed June 11, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I v v N V- 1 R. H. GODDARD 2,616,373

PRESSURE REGULATING AND SHAFT POSITIONING MECHANISM FOR TURBINE DRIVEN PUMPS Original Filed June 11, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 4, 1952 R. H. GODDARD 2,616,373

PRESSURE REGULATING AND SHAFT POSITIONING MECHANISM FOR TURBINE DRIVEN PUMPS Original Filed June 11, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Guam:-

Patented Nov. 4, 1952 PRESSURE REGULATING AND SHAFT POSI- TIONING MECHANISM FOR TURBINE DRIVEN PUMPS Robert H. Goddard, deceased, late of Annapolis,

Md., by Esther C. Goddard, executrix, Worcester, Mass., assignor of one-half to The Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application June 11, 1945, Serial No.

598,755, now Patent No. 2,450,950, dated October 12, 1948. Divided and this application September 28, 1948, Serial No. 51,542

3 Claims.

This application is a division of the original application Serial No. 598,755 filed June 11, 1945 by Robert H. Goddard now deceased now Patent No. 2,450,950, issued October 12, 1948.

This invention relates to improvements in auxiliary power devices for gas blast propelled craft and particularly to means for utilizin a portion of the rocket propulsion blast for driving pumps for supplying combustion materials to the rocket motor, together with auxiliary means for starting and controlling the operation of the pumps.

- In general, the turbine-pump combination herein showncomprisesone or more turbines positioned to be impelled in normal operation by the-external portion only of a rocket motor blast, together with means for guiding the turbine driving gases into the direction of maximum effective power, means for varying the turbine power by varying the position of the turbine in the blast, means for regulating the pump pressure, and means for counterbalancing the forces on the turbine shaft.

It is the general object of this divisional application to stress such features of this invention as relate to means for supporting the turbine shaft and for counterbalancing the forces thereon.

More. specifically, important features of the in- .vention relate to the provision of counterbalancing means controlled by undesired displacement of the turbine shaft from normal running position.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be more clearly apparent from the following detailed descriptions of illustrative embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. '1 is a fragmentary front end portion in partial section of a rocket craft includin a rocket blast driven turbine-pump construction embodying the principles of the invention;

Fig. 2. i's-a transverse view in partial section on line Z-TZ of Fig; 3 of the turbine-pump assembly of'Fig. 1;

Fi-g. '3 isan elevation from the turbine end of the turbine-pump assembly of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in partial section showing the thrust compensating construction of the turbine-pump assembly;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on line 5---5 of Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6 and '7 are diagrammatic representations of modified embodiments of the thrust control construction of the invention.

A typical embodiment of the turbine-pump assembly of the invention is shown generally in Figs. 1 to 3. In Fig. 1 the turbine-pump assembly is shown in association with rocket motors l0 mounted in recesses II in the forward or head end of a rocket craft I2. For the sake of clarity only two of a group of four symmetrically positioned rocket motors are shown.

The assembly comprises paired turbines I3, i3 and pumps I4, I4. Each turbine and its associated pump are mounted on a common shaft l5. Typically one pump of each pair in the assembly supplies fuel and the other pump oxidant to the rocket motor I0 through conduits I6. The combustion material flows to the pumps through conduits l1 leading to tanks, not shown, which may conveniently be mounted in the rocketas de-' scribed in Goddard U. S. Patent No. 2,109,529.

Each turbine-pump combination is mounted upon a base I8 by means of a thin web 40 connecting the base and the bearing housing 4|. The base I8 is pivotally supported at I9 upon a suitable pintle 20 extending from the rocket structure. Between the bearing housing and the turbine the shaft passes through a compensating block 42, the purpose of which is more fully described hereinafter.

The preferred form of turbine is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 and comprises a disk 2| having a rather wide rim formed by the hollow turbine blades 22. The blades 22 are shaped to direct that portion of the blast which engages the turbine blades laterally away from the turbine disk to each side thereof. As shown particularly in Fig. 1, the vanes are each curved to engage a substantial portion of half the periphery of the blast. 'By providing paired turbines engaging opposite sides of the blast, the blast is effected much'less'than by a single turbine on one side taking'the same power. By-positioning and shaping the turbine blades to engage onlyxthe peripheral p'OltiOnLOf the blast, they'come in contact with the part of the blast of lowest velocity andof lowest temperature so that it is easier to maintain the blades at a safe operating temperature. This position ofthe blades also entails the least inter ference with the high velocity core of the bias The gases from the blast leaves the vanes in a more or less transverse direction, and therefore tend to impinge against adjacent surfaces of the rocket craft. Moreover, the residual velocity of the gases that leave the turbine vanes transversely' is likely to be large for, single stageturbines and is lost for propulsion. These disadvantages may be eliminated and the residualvelocity of In order to obtain large variations in thrust,-

the turbine blades may be swung into and out of the periphery of the rocket blast by rotating the bases l8 about the pivot points at Hi. This may be effected by means of pinions iii-engaging fixed racks 44 and actuated by'reversible motors 45 fastened to bases l8. To accommodate such movement of the assemblies, flexible bellows H;

and 4'! are provided in the outlet pipes i6 and the intake pipes M, respectively. 7

Because of the relatively large inertia of the system, however, this method is not suitable for controlling rapid and comparatively small variations in pressure. Rapid pressure control, which is of importance not only in maintaining constant thrust but also in making possible rapid variations-in thrust, may be obtained by means of bypassvalves w (Fig. 1)-.- s

The by-pass valves 43 are connected by tubes 49 to'outlet pipes 3 (Fig. 1) and by tubes 50 to intakepipes I 1. r

' Owing to the fact that the blast gases impinge against one-side only of the turbines, it is desirable toprovide means for neutralizing the resultant radial force on the bearings 60, 6| (Figs; 4 anddue to this unbalanced force onthe turbi-ne. Moreover, such counterbalancing should be constantly equal to the; turbine force, even when the latter varies, as otherwise there will be a large unbalanced-v radial force on the bearings which is undesirable because of the high: speed of the pumps. This counterbalancing is effected by means of the compensator block- 42 and associated devices. Ehe block 42, through which shaft it passes, has in its bottom portion a cylindrical boring 82 penetrating to the shaft. Plunger 63 which is slidably mounted in boring 62 bears at its pointed lower end in'a slight depression 64 in base l8, which serves to prevent sliding of the block 42 alongv the shaft.

A tube 65 allows air, on or any suitable pressure fluid to enter the boring- 62 between plunger (i3 and the shaft. The block- 42 fits closely around shaft I 5 and a groove 66 containing flexible packing is cut in theblock around the inner I end-of boring 62. Outside of groove Beis a second groove 61. A drain 6? extends from groove 67 to-the outside-atmosphere to drain off thepressure fluid which seeps past the packing in groove 6Q; There will thus bea force exerted on shaft L I5, caused by the fluid pressure from tube 65, but the reaction will be against base l8 rather than against block 42. The only unbalanced force on shaft l-5 due to block. 42 will be that'due to the narrow annularareabetween boring E2 andfthe packed groove 65 together with a part of the widthof the packing. This forcewill be smalLil'iowever, because of the smallness of the area invowed. V The radial force on the shaft produced by plunger 63 is automatically maintained equal to the radial force on the turbine. This is desirable, as is explained above, for the reason that the unbalanced turbine force is very considerable and the speed of the shaft is high. A reduction of the resultant force the bearings to a small amount makes possible the use of small light bearings, running with but little loading either end or radial.

Two small bellows 68, 69 fastened together and inter-communicating at their abutting ends, are supported: from bearing housing: H by yoke 10, likewise attached to the bellows at their abutting ends, so that the opposite ends of the bellows are free to move and fluid pressure can pass freely between the two bellows. The outer ends of the bellows are supported on fixed brackets ll, 12 projecting from' mounting l3 attached to base 18. Integral with yoke 10 is a valve rod 14, inside the bellows; which can push open a normally spring-closed valve l 5.

When the shaft is pushed downwardly by the action of theblast on the turbine, the flexibility of the relatively thin web 40, which supports the pump and turbine unit on the base, permits the valve rod 14' to open valve 15 and thus allows pressure fluid supplied by tube 16, from a tank not shown, to pass into the bellows and through tube 65 into boring 62. The pressure fluid continues to flow into the boring until the bending of the shaft by the turbine force hasbeen. overcome. If the turbine force shoulddropbelow' the compensator force, the excess pressure will bleed off through tube- 61 Even though the compensator block 42 produces a lateral, or radial, force L2 on the shaft, equal andoppositeto-that onthe turbine L1, (Fig. 6) there will remain a momentof force on the shaft equal toeither force times the distance be-' tween the compensator block 4Zandthe turbine, and hence there will still be radial forces on the bearings 60, 6|. More eflective compensation may be provided. by supplying one additional force L3 by means of a plunger slidingin ablock 8: similar to 42 but abutting afixedmems ber 32-. In this arrangement,v theforce L2 must begreater than the force onthe turbine L1- by the amount of the added force La.

An alternative arrangement, indicated in Fig. 7, is somewhat less desirable inthat it introduces two additional forces instead of one. 'I'heforce L2- is, however, no greater in this case than L1. In this arrangement, the two additional forces L3, L4 form a couple equal and opposite tothe couple provided by L1, L2. The additional forces L3 and L4 can be made small if the distance: between them is considerable;

Having thus described the invention and the advantages thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but that what is claimed is:

1. In a blast-driven, turbine-and-pump assembly, the combination with a pump, a turbine and a common shaft mounting said pump and turblue, of fluid-pressure-actuat'ed means to move said shaft transversely, and means responsive to transverse displacement of'said. shaft from. normal running position by said turbine blast, which latter means renders said fluids-pressure-actuated means effective to move said shaft in a direction counter to the direction of said transverse" displacementcaused by said blast, thereby restoringsaid shaft to its normal running position.

2. In a blast-driven, turbine-and-pump assembly, the combination with a pump, a turbineand a common shaft mounting said pump and turbine and extending in a direction normal to the path of travel of the propulsion blast, of fl-u-id pressure-actuated means to move said shaft transversely, and means responsive to transverse displacement of said shaft from normal running position by said turbine blast, whichv latter means renders said fluid-pressure-actuated means effective to move said shaft in a direction substam tially opposite to the travel of said blast and counter to the direction of said transverse displacement caused by said blast, thereby restoring said shaft to its normal running position.

3. In blast-driven, turbine-and-pump assembly, the combination with a pump, a turbine, a base member extending normal to the path of travel of said blast, a common shaft mounting said pump and turbine and extending parallel to said base member and in a, direction normal to the path of travel of the propulsion blast and bearing means carried by said member and rotatably supporting said shaft, of fluid-pressureactuated means to move said shaft transversely in said bearing means, said shaft bearing being supported from said base member by a Web member adapted to flex in a plane normal to the shaft and the base member, and means engaging said shaft and responsive to transverse bending of said shaft from normal running position by said tur- 6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,296,180 Graemiger Mar. 4, 1919 1,411,145 Whitted Mar. 28, 1922 1,547,487 Allen July 28, 1925 1,553,941 Kasley Sept. 15, 1925 1,639,444 Terry Aug. 16, 1927 2,109,529 Goddard Mar. 1, 1938 2,281,631 Spillmann May 5, 1942 2,395,657 Dinsmore Feb. 26, 1946 2,446,523 Bradbury et a1. Aug. 10, 1948 2,450,950 Goddard Oct. 12, 1948 2,455,845 Wells Dec. '7, 1948 2,517,038 Sheffield Aug. 1, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 583,728 Germany Sept. 8, 1933 

